At the end of last term we marked another milestone in the history of our school as we celebrated the 20th heritage day since the advent of our democracy, with a school concert: SISONKE – WE ARE TOGETHER.
The 24 September is a South African public holiday; where all South Africans celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions.
This celebration was once named Shaka Day is in commemoration of the death in 1826 of the legendary King Shaka Zulu of the Zulu tribe. Nelson Mandela summed up the significance of this day when he said:
“When our first democratically elected government decided to make heritage one of our national days we did so because we knew that our rich and varied cultural heritage has profound power to help build a new nation.”
Our School decided on the theme SISONKE – WE ARE TOGETHER to mark this momentous occasion through the creative expression of music, dance and dramatic performances, poetry recitals, comedy, and the culturally diverse food we eat.
A week of celebration started on Monday 16 September with the DHS staff all dressing in the theme for the day: Something Blue. Tuesday saw the teachers TWINNING with a colleague. Great fun was had by all the staff.
Wednesday was our CULTURAL DRESS UP day. The DHS staff also contributed to a huge and diverse scrumptious cultural spread. We were all bursting at the seams after sampling the different cuisine from the various cultures.
Thursday was a big day for the school. The Concert … which was a resounding success.
The show opened with the Marimba Band from the Open Air School. Wow! What a performance by these talented young people. The DPHS Gumboot Dancers were slick and precise in their performance. It was a huge honour and privilege to have had both these schools grace our stage.
Our multi-talented DHS boys certainly did not disappoint. Amazing performances were presented by all the boys who participated – many of whom took to the stage for the first time. Another first was the teachers’ choir with their rendition of “Something Inside so Strong”. Hopefully this will not be the last we hear them perform.
We all learnt that nothing is impossible if we all work together and meet each other halfway as it took us just two weeks to put this amazing show together.
Our heartfelt gratitude to Mrs Pillay from Open Air School and Mrs Briscoe from DPHS. We hope to see you again next year.
A huge thank you to the following people, without whom we would not have had such a successful show:
- The Head Master, Mr A D Pinheiro, for affording us the opportunity to do this production
- Old Boys Priyen Naidoo for the choreography and Yesheen Bhagwandeen for never failing to come to the party
- The DHS staff for their choral piece
- The Sisonke team
- All the participants
- The technical team
- Teachers, parents and friends of DHS
Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you all next year!
Mrs S Nagiah
Head of Culture
